Chasing Waterfalls in Middle Earth, refusing to stick to the rivers and lakes that we were used to

Finally found Smeegle at the Weta Cave
Holding on tight on White Knuckle Airlines, view out the plane.
Just a gorgeous day on the West Coast
Pancakes anyone? Pancake rocks on the Wild West Coast
Taking over the taps at Monteiths brewery
Considering other ways to make money in Shantytown
Running out of money on our trip so we had to stop

to pan for gold.
Breaking the rules and much happier about it, at Franz.
Trying to get closer at Franz Josef Glacier
Fox Glacier, Bob is NOT impressed. But we did walk the wrong way

over ANOTHER swing bridge so that may have something to do

with it
A river that is now a rock desert that Bob is indignant over,

and may be starting a rock export company, FYI Laurie

Mt Hooker in the background.
Mt Hooker in the background bringing out the best

in us.
Got thirsty on the drive so stopped for a quick

drink at Fantail Falls.
Should be said that Bob doesn't like heights, and this was the first of

about five swing bridges that he had to cross. Basically when you walk

on it it wobbles and shakes and makes you feel like its about to come

down. Good combo for fear of heights
Taking in the Blue Pools in my new hat, purchased while getting

trapped in Qtown

Just enjoying Middle Earth and all the wizardry that comes

with it.
Taking in the Remarkables on a remarkable boat tour
Leaving our cares behind, we took some time on the swings.

We also made this into a competition of who could get higher, which

I also won. Don't challenge me on the swings
We wanted to reenact RWRR Challenge on the Luge, but alas

it was closed so we did the next best thing. I still won
Bob conquering his fears by climbing Bob's Peak in Queenstown
Stopping for a quick healthy snack in Cromwell
Rethinking business school and pondering life, at Lake Pukaki

in the shadow of Mount Cook, after visiting Twizel, the mecca of

nightlife on the South Island.
Getting some extra arm workout, squeezing two people

in the photos at the Bridge of Remembrence in C Church.
Punting on the Avon in Christchurch, its no Venice, but that

ball was gondola.
The sunrise the morning Bob arrived. A good omen

So I've had my first friend visiting AND for the first time gone much more south in the South Island. Thank goodness I watched LOTR before I came (see previous post) because now I can really appreciate Middle Earth. So a few themes that ran through our whirlwind tour:

Enjoying Middle Earth: So many places on the South Island are just like Middle Earth, and maybe its the movie, or maybe the place made the movie, but you can't describe it and you can't capture it in pictures - but you do see hobbits. I mean they're everywhere, its ridiculous

Flying by the Seat of Pants: So although I emailed Bob a lot to ask him what he wanted to do, at the end we just ended not planning much and just deciding to see the South Island. Lucky us that this is the slowest time of year for tourists, except that this is also the time they close a lot of places that we had been planning to go. Like Shawty's in Twizel, hotspot that I'm sure it is. Also, driving times should always be extended down here, maybe by double. And hiking times should be halved, what?? That's right...you saw what I did to the QCT (see post 2), well all NZ hiking times appear to be calculated for people with a cane.

Karaoke - For me an integral part of any visit to a new place is experiencing the local karaoke. Well Queenstown delivered - including a Maori dude who blew Prince's Purple Rain out of the water. Just as Bob had finally convinced me to sing Sweet Caroline to get the crowd going, whadda ya know, another group of Americans beat us to it and got all the US street cred for getting the bar pumped up. This was soon followed by a group of Brits bringing down the house with Oasis. Apparently Oasis = Sweet Caroline in karaoke speak for crowdpleaser

Waterfalls - A friend told me that just like when you're in Italy and you get cathedral/sculpture fatigue, well you get waterfall fatigue here. There's just soooo many and so many good ones, that you're like, "Great, another waterfall and amazing view, done that". And there's so many amazing mountain views that you also are like okay, how many more do I need to see? But each one is spectacular and all do warrant a viewing and appreciation, especially Mt Hooker. Mt Hooker = The David

Roadtrips - There's a lot of time to talk in the car and ponder some of the great questions of life, like "Why did the U.S. decide not to use the metric system?" and "Why do certain countries use different voltages?", and "What's the difference between a glacier and an iceburg?" When following Lonely Planet's recommendations on places to see, just know that they tend a bit towards exaggeration, where is Rick Steve when you need him. On that note, if you ever find yourself in Blackball, pop.85 , a stop at the Blackball Salami Factory and the Hilton would be highly advisable.

Wineries and breweries - There's basically a winery or brewery in almost every town in NZ, so you could theoretically just tour around tasting libations - this would probably lead to driving on the wrong side of the road frequently, so should be avoided. Also, if going to purchase wine to bring back to America, it would be advisable to wait till the end of the trip if you still want it to be around. As a side note, if you're short on chairs, making stools out of kegs - genius.

The Great Outdoors - This trip has made Bob realize that he'd like to be more outdoorsy, well mostly for the gear, but the views are nice as well. When you're on a whirlwind tour there's not as much time for long sojourns in the wild, but we did take advantage of some highway hiking. Basically 20 minute hikes off of a highway route. Super convenient and perfect for fast-forward outdoorsing.

Hiccups - So there were a few hiccups on our South Island Adventure and a few lessons learned: I misplaced my wallet AGAIN, luckily once again it turned up, but I really need to stop making this a habit or my luck might run out. Also, had a small car accident in our rental car, some other rental car was parked directly behind me and I backed into it. No damage to their car but a bit of paint loss on ours. Luckily I got the insurance AND when we returned the car, no one was there, so little surprise for them, hoping its no big deal.....Its also no joke when Lonely Planet tells you to fill up on petrol, coasting on fumes in the mountainous terrain of NZ is not advisable. Also, missed the ferry back to Wellington so we had to take a 12 person plane ride which is nicknamed, "White knuckle Airlines". We survived and Bob conquered some more fears. But it all worked out and added a few elements of surprise to our adventure

Well those are the big picture highlights, but one thing Bob regrets is not getting to play netball (women's basketballesque game here). He thinks he would be awesome at it after watching the final of the Swifts vs. the Bluejays. Also Bob would like to note that if America put together a rugby team made up of NFL allstars, that they would be the best in the world. I defended the Kiwis, but my roommates took Bob's side, so that was that.

One thing I've learned from having my first visitor is that I need to brush up on my NZ trivia for all that question time available while driving. So back to researching.....Excited to have more visitors, thanks for coming Bob!!!